Health research literature suggests that planned interventions designed to prepare patients to cope with a variety of health-related threatening situations have been effective in producing both immediate and long-range beneficial outcomes. This proposal describes a longitudinal experimental study designed to evaluate theoretically-derived nursing interventions for the reduction of stress associated with radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer. Selected adult oncology patients beginning a course of radiotherapy will be randomly assigned to either a series of three cognitive interventions, three affective interventions, three combination interventions, or three non-intervention interviews (control group). The experimental interventions, while derived from theory, are designed with careful consideration of the clinical setting in which they would be used, making any of the intervention plans readily suitable for implementation in a variety of settings. Data from the non-intervention interviews will be used to identify stressors which have not been recognized in the literature. The results of this research may also help to define an appropriate role for the nurse in radiation therapy units -- a treatment area in which the potential contribution of the professional nurse has not been recognized.